Great Basin Land & Water Projects
Truckee River Water Rights Acquisition Program, Nevada
To carry out the goals of the Truckee River Water Quality Settlement Agreement of 1996, GBLW has worked with the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, Washoe County and the Cities of Reno and Sparks to facilitate the acquisition of over 13,000 acre-feet of water rights to augment in-stream flows in the Truckee River to improve water quality and to maintain and preserve the lower Truckee River and Pyramid Lake for fish and wildlife, including threatened and endangered species. GBLW has completed over 125 individual transactions and our work to acquire Truckee River Water Rights is ongoing.
Pyramid Lake Land Acquisition Program, Nevada
GBLW has assisted the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe in the acquisition of approximately 8,650 acres of private inholdings located in or adjacent to the Pyramid Lake Reservation boundaries. The lands acquired are of significant cultural and economic importance to the Tribe. Most of the acquisitions included water rights that provide in-stream flows to benefit Pyramid Lake and its threatened and endangered species to which their culture is inseparably linked. GBLW continues to assist the Tribe to acquire lands within the Reservation.
Summit Lake Acquisition and Conservation Program, Nevada
GBLW’s work to benefit Summit Lake and its watershed has included working with the Summit Lake Paiute Tribe to prepare a Summit Lake Conservation Action Plan and to acquire land within the watershed. To unify sovereign lands within the Summit Lake Reservation, GBLW facilitated a program to consolidate fractionated allotment lands by compensating over 50 individual owners who voluntarily sold their fractionated interests to the Tribe.
Topaz Japanese Internment Camp, Utah
GBLW structured a real estate transaction on behalf of the Topaz Museum to purchase 415 acres of the original 500-acre World War II Topaz Japanese Internment Camp, to be used for preservation and interpretation. In recognition of this successful acquisition, GBLW received the Utah Heritage Foundation’s 1998 Heritage Award. [Photo: Courtesy of the Topaz Museum]
Little Colorado River Water Rights Acquisition Program, Arizona
To advance the objectives of the Zuni Indian Tribe Water Rights Settlement Act of 2003 that resolved the Zuni Tribe’s claims to water within the Little Colorado River basin in Arizona, GBLW facilitated the Tribe’s purchase of water rights to restore the Tribe’s sacred Zuni Salt Lake, home of Ma’l Oyattsk’I or Zuni’s Salt Woman, located fifty miles south of the Zuni Pueblo in New Mexico. These water rights are also used to support wetlands and restore the riparian corridor within the Zuni Heaven Reservation.
